挖鼻孔不僅噁心,而且會造成致命疾病
Lots of parents catch their children picking their noses and tell them off for it - and that's because it's gross. Even though it may be unhygienic and can even be a bit embarrassing if your little ones decide to do it in a public place, most mums and dads think the habit is relatively harmless.
很多家長在看到孩子挖鼻孔的時候都會讓他們不要這麼做--因爲很噁心。儘管挖鼻孔不衛生，而且如果你的小孩兒在公共場所做出此舉還會讓你感到尷尬，但大多數家長都認爲這是一種相對無害的習慣。
But it turns out picking your nose could spread a dangerous bacteria which causes pneumonia, new research warns. Here's why and what you can do to stop it from happening. The study, published in the European Respiratory Journal, shows that the transmission of pneumonia can occur through contact between the nose and hands when exposed to the bacteria.
但新的研究警告稱，挖鼻孔可能會傳播導致肺炎的危險細菌。爲什麼不要挖鼻孔？怎樣才能做到這一點？發表在《歐洲呼吸雜誌》上的一篇研究表明：暴露於細菌環境中，鼻子和手之間的接觸可能導致肺炎的傳播。
Researchers found that the bacteria spreads at the same rate whether dry or wet condition, or whether people pick or even just rub their noses. This is scary stuff, as pneumonia is a major cause of death around the world and is estimated to be responsible for 1.3million deaths in children under five years of age.
研究員發現：無論是在乾燥還是潮溼環境下，無論人們是挖鼻孔還是隻是揉鼻子，細菌都會以同樣的速度傳播。這很可怕，因爲在全世界範圍內，肺炎是導致人們死亡的主要原因。據估計，130萬名5歲以下的兒童因患肺炎而死亡。
Even though it's tricky to get your little ones to kick the unpleasant habit, researchers have some simple advice that may prevent the spread of the deadly bacteria. "For parents, as this research shows that hands are likely to spread pneumococcus, this may be important when children are in contact with elderly relatives or relatives with reduced immune systems," said lead researcher Dr Victoria Connor, a clinical research fellow at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and Royal Liverpool Hospital.
儘管讓孩子戒掉這一令人不快的習慣似乎是件很棘手的事情，但研究員給出了一些簡單的建議，或能預防致命細菌的傳播。"因爲這項研究表明肺炎球菌可能會通過雙手進行傳播，所以當兒童與上了年紀的親戚或免疫系統較弱的親戚接觸時，家長因格外留心，"首席研究員維多利亞·康納蓋爾博士說道，他是利物浦熱帶醫學院和皇家利物浦醫院（Royal Liverpool Hospital）的臨牀研究員。
"In these situations, ensuring good hand hygiene and cleaning of toys or surfaces would likely reduce transmission, and reduce the risk of developing pneumococcal infection such as pneumonia." So basically, keeping their hands and toys clean minimises the risk - which shouldn't be too tricky to do with some antibacterial wipes or gel.
"在這些情況下，確保雙手衛生、清潔玩具或物體表面可能會減少傳播、降低肺炎等肺炎球菌感染的風險。"所以，基本上來說，保持雙手和玩具乾淨可最大限度地降低風險--只要有抗菌紙巾或抗菌免洗洗手液，就不難做到這一點。
Dr Connor also said it "might not be realistic" to get kids to stop picking and rubbing their noses completely - but the presence of the bacteria could help "boost the immune system" of children and "reduces the risk" of them getting the disease in later life.
康納蓋爾博士還表示，讓孩子不再挖鼻孔或揉鼻子"可能不大現實"--但是細菌的存在或能幫助兒童"增強免疫系統"，"降低他們晚年患肺癌的風險"。
